Right... well... I took out a 'phone contract with Orange UK 9th Jan 2004 at the time I was 17. Took the contract out through The Link, when asked my DOB I replied 1986... which he "accidently" sliped to make 1985... Fast forward to now... I am now 18 and had the contract for almost 17 months. In the last few months of use I've ran up around the nasty edge of £1k. Now... I've come to the conclusion a) I can't afford to pay this. b) I was a minor when the contract was established. My thinking is I can just tell them that I was a minor when I took out the contract and what happened and then the contact is null and void... and the debt snuffed... But... in this event would they try and get me for fraud or gaining a pecuniary advantage by deception... etc? (which would probably lead to be being credit blacklisted.... which is not desirable.) Basicly... what are my options short of paying the damn thing. Thanks for help
Im no lawyer, but I cant imagine that theres much you can do short of paying it. The UK laws may be different, but I dont think you have an easy way out. If they knew you were a minor at the time, you might have an excuse. Since you "accidently" wrote the wrong year, you could get in trouble for fraud or deception or something along those lines. I think your only desirable option is to just pay it. On a side note, how did you manage to get $1000 of phone bills? Im not familiar with UK phone companies, but in the US its about $40+ per month. do you use the phone a LOT?
If you've run up £1000 then i doubt they'll just let you off, if you knew you couldn't afford to pay why run the bill up in the first place? If it was a small bill then you may have stood a chance, but now it'll just look like you've run up a huge bill and you are trying to worm your way out of paying for it (which it sounds exactly what your trying to do). My advice Pay it and then put it down to a lession learned.
Not taking into account any moral values here... You could probably get out of the contract since you were a minor at the time you entered it. You may be able to get out of the fines (I say may because the bills were made now, when your over 18). But since you are over 18 most likely they can take some kind of legal action against you, most certainly some sort of civil action (if your laws are similar to the US laws). I know your trying to get legal advice here, but I would be to contact a lawyer in your area that deals with specifically with contracts as you could show them documents and such. And you can probably meet with one for free to 'review' your case. I don't understand what you said here as I'm not fimilar with Orange UK, as I'm not a UK resident. So I don't know what 'The Link' is. But did a person take down the info? If so you can lie and say the person that took your info down made the mistake, and blame them. That could get you out of fraud charges or the likes. Morally you should just balls up and pay the bill though.
Having had problems with orange a few years ago, I would suggest you pay it off anyway possible. Their accounts can't be arsed chasing the debt themselves so the 'sell' the debt to another company. That will be when you start getting visits from bailifs, summonds to court etc. I don't mean to sound scary but I ended up borrowing the money to clear the debt to avoid all the hassle. As for signing the contract underage, I think you'll find that there is precident for this and it wont absolve you of the debt. More thinking, even if they did write of the debt they will trash your credit rating in the process. M:/
Sorry mate, call them, explain your situation and structure the debt or take a small loan to cover it. If you try and fight it they'll screw you Orange>you
Its not like you didn't know you were running up the bills, you've pointed it out in #bit-tech before, you shoulda cancelled your phone before and got pay as you go, and if your still on contract, your an idiot cancel it and get pay as you go! You made the calls, you knew the price, orange won't let you back out, they hasseled me when I had an unpaid bill of £42 ffs, and that was all a mistake.. - M@
If you ran up a bill over over a grand you must've known you'd need to pay it off/scam the company. You knew you were liable and I bet orange will aswell. All trying to get out of it will do is to cause a lot of agro for you and possibly court action where you'll have to pay the money + legal fees.
Knowing orange, best to pay off the bills. Being a "minor" THEN is different from now because you are no longer a minor, so rules are probably different. Are there any ways of getting money? You got a job? Sell some stuff to get the money? Get a loan - but don't go that way if you can't pay that back! £1000, over the course of how long?
pay the bill, what you did was stupid, trying to get out of it could stitch you up majorly with reference to credit in later life...
The debt will probably be passed to a collection agency (Wescot Credit Services in Hull is a popular one). These will send you a big nasty letter saying they are collecting X debt on behalf of Y client and want it paid ASAP. Ring them up, explain your situation, and you'll be able to negotiate a settlement figure there and then of anything between 10% (on a bad day) and 40% (on a good one) below the original debt. If you still can't manage to pay this new amount off in full, you'll be able to agree a repayment scheme which will normally be cheques (or DD if they do it) for 10% of the amount every month until it's cleared. Word of advice; if you do the repayment scheme, don't go with the DD option if they offer it, send cheques. 10% a month of your debt is circa £100. You might be able to afford this, and if you can great as it'll clear the debt ASAP. If you can't though, just send the first cheque for the right amount, but for the second month send them a cheque for however much you can afford (but be realistic, sending a 10er is taking the piss so let's go with half @ £50) along with a letter explaining your situation, your outgoings, and how can't afford any more. If you want to add effect, hand write the letter on skanky paper and it'll make you look super needy . Do remember you'll want two copies of the letter though, both signed and dated. If they cash that cheque, it's legally binding so they absolutely cannot demand in subsequent months that you start sending them the original agreed amount. Let them threaten you all they want, hell, let them take you to court if you like, it'll get thrown out. Them cashing the cheque is a legally binding contract that specifies the minimum amount you are required to repay each month. In case you're wondering, my father works in the collections department of Nationwide Building Society (one of the only financial institutions that maintain their own collections department, almost everyone else outsources).
:: Deleted :: My advice is crap. Take Hwulex's! He seems to know what he is talking about! And yes pay the debt asap. And learn a valuable lesson this way. Don't spend money you don't have, or can't afford to spend. Calling = Spending money. Good luck, I hope everything works out ok. L
I have to agree Hwulex, most companies will agree a repayment scheme, talk to them. If you don't, you can forget about any type of credit until your in your early twenties (maybe not a bad thing though)
After consulting my flatmate (who is a lawyer) basically he says pay it off by agreeing a payment scheme with them. There is very very little chance you'd win if you took them to court over the whole "I was a minor thing". Do what Hwu says seems to be the best plan.
i dont mean to be an arse but do i get da ja vu http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=86443&highlight=orange is this the same debt or another one.
Oh, another thing; if it does get passed to a collection agency, or even if they handle it internally, don't be afraid to ring them for advice on what best to do and to negotiate a repayment plan. Speaking from a £500 debt experience - which I still maintain wasn't my fault - most of the people working the phones in these agencies are students so they will sympathise/empathise with you and most are very friendly and will do all they can to help if you explain your situation and your student, low income, status. I'm talking about the people that answer the phones here. The people that ring you are normally barstewards.
oh and DO NOT let it drag on. every time they visit you thats more cost on the bill, when the agency get it they will add more money to it for them taking the debt unless you pay it fully straight away. you get a ccj (county court judgement) and dont turn up or ignore it and they will charge you stupid amounts more. the longer you leave it the worse it gets. deal with it NOW
